Replaying a game for the first time

This thread was inspired by @Video_Game_King 's nostalgia thread.

Here is a theoretical situation: If you were given the chance to re-experience any game of your choice for the first time again, which game would it be and why? Note that even though I imply that you may choose only one game, you may mention multiple (but treat it as if you can only choose one).

Mine would probably be either Chrono Trigger or Silent Hill 2. These games are some of my favorite games, and they are both great experiences when played the first time. Silent Hill 2 especially hinges a lot of the enjoyment on you not knowing the story, so replays often offer diminishing returns. To a lesser extent, Chrono Trigger also loses some of its magic on replays. You can only discover Guardia and the vast time periods once.

The Walking Dead

also Mass Effect, Mass Effect 3 with all the DLC, Alan Wake without the DLC, and Left 4 Dead 1 (that game was totally scary when it first came out, and playing online with strangers with mics and we're all screaming like a buncha fools sure was something special)

I would not want that. Final Fantasy 7 or Shenmue was amazing then but if I played that now I would probably not enjoy it much.

Diablo, i think. I didn't have any idea what kind of game Diablo was when I bought it. I had played and enjoyed Warcraft II and here was this game on the shelf by the same developer, where you apparently climb down into the bowels of the earth to murder the devil. That sounded like something I wanted to get on board with. Took it home. Installed. Became enraptured. O_O

@dagas said:

I would not want that. Final Fantasy 7 or Shenmue was amazing then but if I played that now I would probably not enjoy it much.

I answered the question taking into account the time period, so I interpreted as traveling back in time to the appropriate time period to play the game in its original heyday. Obviously older games, if played for the first time right now, will underwhelm to a certain degree.

@dagas said:

I would not want that. Final Fantasy 7 or Shenmue was amazing then but if I played that now I would probably not enjoy it much.

Gah I knew I was forgetting something. I should've put in a disclaimer stating that this experience will be exactly the same as the one you had the first time playing through the game. I agree though, there are quite a lot of games that if they were to come out now, would not be able to compete with the competition.

Vagrant Story, it's the best game ever made, 'nuff said. Though I guess Uncharted 2, Resident Evil 4, and God of War 2 get honorable mentions for the near perfect experience on the first go around.

Portal 2

Dark Souls. For the sense of growth that you undergo, painful as it appropriately may be, as you learn and gradually master the game for the first time.

Planescape: Torment. For the amazing and unparalleled story that you only get to discover for the first time once.

Oblivion. I want to experience the endorphin rush of stepping outside the sewers for the first time all over again.

None. I like replaying games for the second or third time and discovering more nuances and such that make me love the game even more.   
 
I would love to see The Avengers again for the first time though. So much hype!

@dagas said:

I would not want that. Final Fantasy 7 or Shenmue was amazing then but if I played that now I would probably not enjoy it much.

This is my biggest fear of picking something old. If I could experience within the same reference frame I would, but I'd honestly pick something new like The Walking Dead, assuming I have nothing spoiled.

@DarthOrange said:

None. I like replaying games for the second or third time and discovering more nuances and such that make me love the game even more. I would love to see The Avengers again for the first time though. So much hype!

Wow, I wish that I have the ability to enjoy something more the second time around. There are some games that are built around having the second go around be more fun though. I believe Kamiya has said that Bayonetta's Normal mode was practice for the harder difficulties.

Either Megaman Legends or Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Damn it son ... I cant list all of them D: !!!!!!! So in these case I will put one that deserved a lot more people playing it ... that would be Brutal Legend .... the best metal inspered game ever (only one? Maybe?) I replayed it the other day and god just the sheer love that was put on that game by double fine ahhhhhh glorious Metal \m/ and the way it encompasses the entirity of metal music its friggin amazing. Hear the roar of the mighty beast Örmaggoden!!!!!!

So yeah :D

Parasite Eve, Resident Evil 2, Final Fantasy VI and VII, Half-Life 2, Grand Theft Auto III.

The first 5 it's all about the music, the world and the atmosphere.

GTA 3 it's about having my mind blown upon realizing that the game tracks how many flips and degrees of rotation you achieved in a jump and subsequently awards you money for said madness.

@TheHT said:

The Walking Dead

also Mass Effect, Mass Effect 3 with all the DLC, Alan Wake without the DLC, and Left 4 Dead 1 (that game was totally scary when it first came out, and playing online with strangers with mics and we're all screaming like a buncha fools sure was something special)

Funny, I'm playing Mass Effect 1 right now for the first time, never having played a single ME game. The only thing I really knew going in was the name of the main character. It's awfully good so far, at least the story part of it, and I just hope it can keep it up. :)

Probably Bioshock. The introduction is amazing even still.

My first playthrough of Dear Esther was something else. Oh and I would love to experience Fez again.

Mass Effect 1 or 2 (even 3 really).

Really there are too many games to count where reliving the experience would be awesome.

Wow, what a cool question.
 
The short list that comes to mind is:
Braid
Metal Gear Solid 2, 3, and 4
Final Fantasy VIII and X
Ocarina of Time (I'm still convinced the design is still perfect even compared to today's games, and I'd like to actually test it)
Fire Emblem 7 and 9 (Path of Radiance) 
Saint's Row 3
 
 
Some of these things were spoiled.
Some I was too young to get at the time.
Some are my favorite childhood games, and I'd like to see them divorced of Nostalgia.

I have a lot since I think about this all the time, remembering the first time i saw something in a game or played a certain part. Skyrim, Oblivion, GTA3, Half-Life, Knights of the Old Republic. Well typically it is story driven games. Call of Duty 4. That fucking nuclear explosion man! Portal.

But out of those, Oblivion, it just made such an impact on what a full open world game could be. It was my first Elder Scrolls game and to be exposed to such a fleshed out world with its own history, it was amazing.

@Demoskinos said:

Probably Bioshock. The introduction is amazing even still.

Hmmm... I forgot about how great that opening to Bioshock was. Bioshock and Mass Effect were the two games that introduced me to the current gen of games (along with PC gaming). Until that time, I was still playing on my PS2. It was pretty mindblowing to see all these new shader technology at their (at the time) best.

@Irishdoom said:

@TheHT said:

The Walking Dead

also Mass Effect, Mass Effect 3 with all the DLC, Alan Wake without the DLC, and Left 4 Dead 1 (that game was totally scary when it first came out, and playing online with strangers with mics and we're all screaming like a buncha fools sure was something special)

Funny, I'm playing Mass Effect 1 right now for the first time, never having played a single ME game. The only thing I really knew going in was the name of the main character. It's awfully good so far, at least the story part of it, and I just hope it can keep it up. :)

a friendly piece of advice (that you probably already know): you should play the third one with leviathan and from ashes.

that is of course assuming you like mass effect 1 and keep going with the series.

The Walking Dead and Mass Effect 2 most definitely.

Probably Oblivion. That game blew my mind when I was 13, as the idea of a big open world with a bunch of stuff to do was basically entirely outside of my wheelhouse at the time being that I was a Gamecube owner and just a Gamecube owner. I guess I'd probably throw Fire Emblem in here as well.

@Demoskinos said:

Probably Bioshock. The introduction is amazing even still.

Yeah, the first time you get in that pod and see the city just over the reef and the violin kicks in is an incredible experience.

999. That "oh shit now everything makes sense my mind is fucking blown to pieces" moment during the very last puzzle. Well, actually, everything leading up to that moment was amazing too, but, man. That moment of sudden clarity and realization...

@ArbitraryWater said:

Probably Oblivion. That game blew my mind when I was 13, as the idea of a big open world with a bunch of stuff to do was basically entirely outside of my wheelhouse at the time being that I was a Gamecube owner and just a Gamecube owner. I guess I'd probably throw Fire Emblem in here as well.

Speaking of Elder Scrolls games, I believe that the first one that people play is usually their favorite. Bethesda's games are pretty formulaic, but man the first time you are dropped in the middle of an open world and given minimal instructions is pretty overwhelming. My first one was Morrowind and the sheer scale of that game blew my mind. I had thought that games were exclusively level/map based until I played that. I mean, these games are also sectioned off into individual maps but Bethesda generally does a good job of hiding that.

Shadow of the Colossus. The second you know how to take out the colossi a little of the magic has gone forever. I found myself burning through the HD version very quickly because I knew exactly what to do in every single fight.

@GunstarRed said:

Shadow of the Colossus. The second you know how to take out the colossi a little of the magic has gone forever. I found myself burning through the HD version very quickly because I knew exactly what to do in every single fight.

I recall that Hard mode adds some extra depth to fights. And if you've done those already, there is always the time trials. And you have to do some extremely crafty stuff in order to slay the collosi in under the time limits given (especially if its Hard mode).

Vice City would be the game i would choose gues i imagine it wouldn't be as special for me playing for the first time in this day and age.

So instead im gonna say Chrono Trigger as i think that game is timeless.

As my avatar suggests, KOTOR. :P

I guess I would say Halo or Half-Life 2, or even Xevious. But Those games haven't aged particularly well. If I were to be back in the same mindset and have the same expectations from videogames as I did back when I first played them then sure, I'd like to get back the feeling of playing Halo for the first time.

It sure would be nice to play Journey again with blank expectations.

I wish I could wipe all memory of Red Dead Redemption and then play through that again. God damn that game is great.

@L44 said:

My first playthrough of Dear Esther was something else.

Dear Esther would be a very close second.

@TheHT: Based on stuff I've heard from Brad on the Bombcast, I will do just that.

To the original question, I would also love to experience Bioshock for the first time again, as well as System Shock 2.

Fallout 3, probably. Also, the first Mass Effect and Bayonetta. Those would be my picks from the current generation.

Ocarina of Time. I'm convinced the design is completely dull and there's very little to enjoy within its confines until the Spirit Temple, but I can't tell how much of that is me remembering the first 50% of the game. I can confirm that the Shadow Temple is ass, though, as I didn't remember a moment of it and it very nearly put me and my friends to sleep. At, like, 8:30 pm.

Less academically, I'm dying to have an experience as meaningful as those I experienced with Super Meat Boy, Fez, Persona 4, or the Mass Effect trilogy again.

Jak 2.  
I loved that game as a kid, it would be great to have the feeling of, "man, this is just freaking cool" again.

Not a single one. Any huge game I enjoyed is too important to erase the memory of. For instance Resident Evil 4 had an influence on my taste in games, so I would not want to only play it now. Who knows the repercussions. Plus I would not like it as much now.

But If I tackle the question from a different angle and could be guaranteed the same love as the first time I played it without changing my game taste: probably Persona 4. I loved that games to bits when I played it, to an extent I don't think I have quite reached since.

@Demoskinos said:

Probably Bioshock. The introduction is amazing even still.

When you are in the sphere going down to Rapture, and the city is finally revealed and the music hits a crescendo... Pure bliss my friend.

Fuck, I really have to replay Bioshock.

Pong.

Silent Hill 2 and Deadly Premonition because the stories are soooo touching, one can only enjoy them to the fullest once.

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 and KotOR... for sure.

@ThunderSlash: Yeah, the hard mode and the time trials add a lot to the optional length of that game, but they are hardly the draw. I did every single thing you can do in that game on the PS2 and not once did I get that excitement I got in my first playthrough when everything was so unknown. There is something great about seeing the bosses as they come and working out their weaknesses, once you have taken one out a couple of extra weak points or a strict time limit don't change the game all that drastically.

@Anund said:

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 and KotOR... for sure.

This just makes me wish that I had actually finished my playthrough of Baldur's Gate back in the late 90s. I've tried going back to it since, but the game feels kinda archaic and clunky.

Super Mario Bros 3

I'm pretty sure it would still blow my damn mind.

Dark Souls, if only to discover how the world and levels are designed and interconnected. The first time I realised that that tower in the distance that looks like a background is the same area I was hacking my way through for the last 4 hours was mind blowing. Stopping and taking in the scenery and trying to see how I got here and where it connects and how, was one of my favourite things to do on my first couple of playthroughs.

Persona 3 would be my number 1 pick. Everything was a surprise when I played that game since I knew so little about it going in. It's one of my favorite games and one of the best times I've had playing a game.

Also Eternal Darkness. Going into that game cold would have been incredible.

Bioshock would be up there on my list. The reveal in that game blew my mind. I would say KOTOR as my first playthrough was ruined by a corrupt save, but I had made it to the twist and replaying the early parts knowing who you were the whole time was probably my favorite part of that game. Maybe Call of Duty 4, but only if I could erase all knowledge of every modern shooter that followed it before I did so. I think it would be a tough choice between Bioshock and Portal for me. Both were great first time experiences that had diminishing returns with every following playthrough.

Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2

Pokémon Blue and Gold

Bioshock

Pokémon Snap

Persona 3

Skyrim

These are a just a few of the games that solidified my love for the medium. I have precious memories of playing through all of them the first time.